Human Rights: British army commanders in Iraq allegedly refused to investigate hundreds of cases of abuse against Iraqi civilians

KUNA reports senior British army commanders in Iraq refused to investigate hundreds of cases of abuse against Iraqi civilians that led to serious injury or even death, a former member of the Royal Military Police (RMP) has claimed.

The former officer alleged that some of the worst cases had been covered up and that the interests of the military had taken precedence over the interests of justice, the Times newspaper reported Monday.

It has been claimed previously that top commanders in Iraq ruled out calling in the RMP in cases where it was judged that deaths or injuries involving Iraqi civilians could not be directly attributed to British military action.

However, the new allegations, made by a former member of the RMP in an interview with The BBC Radio, could reignite the question of the treatment of detainees and the conduct of soldiers during the campaign against Shiite militia extremists in southern Iraq between 2003 and 2007.

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